This week, while there's so much talk of walls, borders, and other means of dividing us from each other, physically and metaphorically, I've chosen five songs from the border-crossing Gaelic music tradition here in the British Isles.

Above: "Arrane Sooree," a Manx Gaelic song performed by Ruth Keggin, a young musician whose aim is to bring Manx music, language, and culture to a wider audience. The song is from her second album Turrys (2016). The video was shot on the Isle of Man.

Below: "Buachaillín Deas Óg Mé," an Irish Gaelic song performed Skipper's Alley, from Dublin. The band released their spirited debut album, Skipper's Alley, in 2014.

Above: "A Ghaoil, Leig Dhachaigh Gum Mhathair Mi," a Scots Gaelic song performed by the extraordinary Julie Fowlis, who grew up in a Gaelic-speaking community on a small island in the Outer Hebrides. She's released numerous solo and collaborative albums; her most recent of the former is Gach Sgeul (2014).

Below: "Gura Mise Tha Fo Mhulad," a Scots Gaelic song performed Rachel Newton, from Glasgow. Newton must be one of the hardest working musicians in the folk music genre, playing with The Furrow Collective, The Emily Portman Trio, The Shee and Boreas as well as with her own band, the Rachel Newton Trio. The song is from her lovely new solo album, Here's My Heart Come Take It.

And last, below: "Samhradh Samhradh," an Irish Gaelic song beautifully performed by The Gloaming. The group consists of folk music stalwarts Iarla Ó Lionáird (vocals), Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Thomas Bartlett. Their gorgeous second album, 2, came out earlier this year.

For more border-crossing, try Mary Jane Lamond's "Seinn o," a song that crossed the Atlantic with Scottish immigrants during the Highland Clearances and is now part of the Gaelic music tradition of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.

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Tunes for a Monday Morning

This week, while there's so much talk of walls, borders, and other means of dividing us from each other, physically and metaphorically, I've chosen five songs from the border-crossing Gaelic music tradition here in the British Isles.

Above: "Arrane Sooree," a Manx Gaelic song performed by Ruth Keggin, a young musician whose aim is to bring Manx music, language, and culture to a wider audience. The song is from her second album Turrys (2016). The video was shot on the Isle of Man.

Below: "Buachaillín Deas Óg Mé," an Irish Gaelic song performed Skipper's Alley, from Dublin. The band released their spirited debut album, Skipper's Alley, in 2014.

Above: "A Ghaoil, Leig Dhachaigh Gum Mhathair Mi," a Scots Gaelic song performed by the extraordinary Julie Fowlis, who grew up in a Gaelic-speaking community on a small island in the Outer Hebrides. She's released numerous solo and collaborative albums; her most recent of the former is Gach Sgeul (2014).

Below: "Gura Mise Tha Fo Mhulad," a Scots Gaelic song performed Rachel Newton, from Glasgow. Newton must be one of the hardest working musicians in the folk music genre, playing with The Furrow Collective, The Emily Portman Trio, The Shee and Boreas as well as with her own band, the Rachel Newton Trio. The song is from her lovely new solo album, Here's My Heart Come Take It.

And last, below: "Samhradh Samhradh," an Irish Gaelic song beautifully performed by The Gloaming. The group consists of folk music stalwarts Iarla Ó Lionáird (vocals), Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Thomas Bartlett. Their gorgeous second album, 2, came out earlier this year.

For more border-crossing, try Mary Jane Lamond's "Seinn o," a song that crossed the Atlantic with Scottish immigrants during the Highland Clearances and is now part of the Gaelic music tradition of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.

"Everything is held together with stories. That is all that is holding us together, stories and compassion."
- Barry Lopez

Further Reading:

on folklore & fairy tales

on mythic fiction & art

on the creative process

into the woods

mythic resources

dartmoor mythic arts

my book website

my art website

the hound

"Storytellers ought not to be too tame. They ought to be wild creatures who function adequately in society. They are best in disguise. If they lose all their wildness, they cannot give us the truest joys."